MY LIFE UP IN FLAMES

This Welkom man has been saddled with an R830 000 bond for his family home, which his wife burnt to the ground

- MEGHAN LAWRENCE

HIS list of monthly expenses is as long as his arm: food, groceries, petrol, utility bills, childcare and school fees and – the biggest of them all – his bond repayments.

But Hennie Fourie spends a big chunk of his salary – nearly R10 000 to be exact – on a house he’ll never live in.

The walls of the four-bedroom home he owns in Welkom in the Free State are covered in soot, there are several broken windows and the roof is missing.

Hennie, who bought the house in 2013 with his wife, Retha, planned to raise his children there but his dreams went up in smoke when their home was torched in 2018.

Retha (46) recently admitted to setting the house on fire, and their insurance company has refused to pay out, leaving Hennie saddled with a hefty bill for the damages.

“I lost everything. Everything. And it hurts. You think you know your life partner . . . I still don’t know why she did it,” he tells YOU.

“Since the house burnt down, I’ve paid over R520 000 towards the mortgage and I still owe R830 000 on the house.”

Hennie (47), an auditor, hit a rough patch after the fire and the Covid pandemic began, and has moved in with his parents in Springbok in the Northern Cape.

Even though he has more support now, he can’t afford the R1,25 million it will take to restore his home. “The house is in ruins, but I’ve put the property on the market for R450 000. I can’t see myself paying off the bond and if I don’t, it will seriously affect my credit record.”

HENNIE and Retha, a travel agent, met on a blind date in Cape Town in 2004 and tied the knot two years later.

They were married for 12 years and had their share of ups and downs over the years.